Chadron State has named Taygen Smith as head men's wrestling coach, associate athletic director Ted Tewahade announced. Smith replaces Brett Hunter, who led the program for 14 seasons before moving into a new role as Chadron State's assistant athletic director for student-athlete development.

Smith has spent the past four seasons with the Chadron State wrestling program, joining as a coaching assistant in 2022-23 before being elevated to assistant coach in 2025. During that stretch, the Eagles produced 12 national qualifiers and five All-Americans, including national runners-up Quen Campbell and Keegan Gehlhausen. The program also set a record last season with 10 NWCA Academic All-Americans and has accumulated 31 during Smith's four years on staff.

As an assistant, Smith designed individualized training plans, facilitated practice sessions and conducted film analysis. He also ran technique clinics with the Wyoming Coaches Association, co-managed Chadron State's wrestling camps and helped organize program fundraising events.

As a competitor at Hastings College in Nebraska, Smith was a three-time NAIA national qualifier in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in 2021. He was also an Academic All-American that season. Smith earned a bachelor's degree in recreation and sports management from Hastings in 2021 and a master's degree in organizational management from Chadron State in 2024.